A label strip is made of individual labels that have to be cut before being placed on a bottle. A label feeder usually has two transfer drums that cause the label strip to follow an S-shaped path under tension. Once the label strip has advanced by some pre-determined length, a cutting device cuts off the appropriate portion of the label strip to make a label.
A disadvantage of known label feeders is that the tension causes the label strip to stretch slightly. This makes it difficult to cut labels of uniform length. If these length discrepancies exceed a certain tolerance, unwanted effects arise in the application of glue on the labels or the application of the labels on the containers to be labeled. A further problem that arises is that after a label is cut from the label strip, the end from which it was cut, which is under tension snaps back and can remain hanging on the cutting device.